Titan Industries Ltd is in an expansion mode. This time, it is eyeing the mid-market in the country, that is, Tier-II and Tier-III cities where demand for consumer durables is being stoked by rising personal incomes. It also has plans to enter Indonesia during financial year 2011-12.
"Our strategy remains the same, we want to position Titan in the mid-market," said Harish Bhat, chief operating officer (watches), Titan Industries.
"We have presence in 30 countries, mainly in Asia, like Vietnam, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Yemen, among others. We plan to enter Indonesia by July," added Bhat. Titan is eyeing to establish its presence in all the big markets of Asia.
On its domestic presence, Bhat said, "At present, Titan has 324 showrooms across the country and plans to add 40 more, mainly in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. A Titan watch can be bought from 9,500 watch dealers, 320 showrooms and 250 departmental stores across the country." The Tata Group company is certainly not ignoring the big cities, taking into consideration the growing spending power of its residents and the fact that a timepiece is no longer a necessity but has evolved into an accessory, sometimes a luxury one.
Titan opened its second flagship store in Delhi on March 18. "We opened our first flagship store at Linking Road, Mumbai, a couple of months ago," he said.
By definition, flagship stores are core stores that are larger than standard outlets and are located in large cities. Such stores have various additional facilities for the customers.
The store in Delhi is home to both Titan's exclusive store format as well as Helios - Titan's premium multi-brand watch chain with around 30 international brands. "By the end of the coming fiscal we will have 10 such flagship stores in the country, including the existing two," said Bhat.
Currently, Titan enjoys a market share of about 50 per cent and hopes to capture two to three per cent more in the coming fiscal.
In 2009-10, Titan Industries had posted a turnover of Rs 4,675 crore. It expects to close this fiscal with a 25 per cent growth.
Titan has seen a lot of competition in the past couple of years. On the strategies worked out to cope with the competition and changing consumer tastes, Bhat said, "There are many international brands in the Indian market today. To cope with the competition we launch new models almost every month. Recently, we launched the model 'Purple', to compete with fashion watches like Espirit, Fossil and Boss. It has been doing well." To keep up with the changing trends Titan also re-launched the Sonata in December 2010 with Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador.
"The response to Sonata has been great. We sold about six million units this year. Sonata sells mostly in small towns because people there dream big and have the zeal to make it big. This makes Dhoni the most suitable ambassador for the model." Titan sold 13 million units to close the year. "It was a good year for us and we will continue to grow in good double digits the next year also," Bhat added.
"Our ad spend was 10 per cent of the revenue. It will continue to be the same in the coming fiscal, too," said Bhat.
Courtesy: Mail Today
Special 
